“Our emotional and physical responses to our ideas are often the most accurate indication of their value.”

In Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success, K.M. Weiland provides insight into the outlining process for a novel, as well as, the two types of writers: Outliner and Pantser. In addition to sharing her own tips and opinions on novel outlines, she also shares the perspective of nine other authors. Weiland ask all the authors the same five questions:

- Can you describe your outlining processes?
- What is the greatest benefit of outlining?
- What is the biggest pitfall of outlining?
- Do you recommend pantsing for certain situations and outlining for others?
- What’s the most important contributing factor to a successful outlining experience?

“Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it’s the life’s blood of a writer.”

Weiland provides good information and checklists to keep you on track in each section of her outlining process. I am currently in the middle of a project, but I am interested in trying out some of her processes in my future work.

“As an author, your most powerful gift is your unique and integral view of the world.”

One area I don’t plan on utilizing as in-depth as Weiland is the section on getting to know your characters and their development. While it is important to understand your characters, what makes them tick, where their drama lies, and where they are going. I do not think it is necessary to ask them 100+ questions. That seems like a lot of wasted time for information that might not be beneficial to the story. For example, I don’t think knowing my character's favorite color is essential unless I intentionally make it a plot point—which is hard to do unless maybe your character goes crazy and murders someone for their adorable pink sweater … that’s a lot of love for a color. While I wouldn’t start this process off the bat, asking your characters questions could help if you find yourself in a rut or an impossible situation.

“It’s not enough to create a character who does interesting things. He must also do them for interesting reasons.”

A section of this book that was new to me was the use of the Enneagram chart. I hadn’t heard of it before, but I think it could be a valuable source to ensure you have a cohesive character and that their motivations and fears correlate with their personality. Overall, I found this book helpful. I will read more of Weiland’s books on writing and add them to my home library. ( )

I needed a book to help me understand the outlining process for writing a novel - what to include, how in-depth the outline should, etc. K.M. Weiland answered all my questions (plus some). I bought the accompanying workbook and will now get to work. ( )

The book had a lot of great tips on why you should be outlining, but in the end I found the practical side of it lacking. Don't get me wrong, its an entertaining read, and Weiland makes a compelling case on why you want to outline, what the benefits are, and what all of the factors of a well rounded outline include (not just the scene list). I had hoped for something a little more in depth about the different toolsets you can use (not just "this is a mind mapping," but "this is mindmapping - here's how to do it and make it useful for your outline if that strikes you"). ( )

I found this book helpful in learning ideas to outline a large project. Definitely geared for those looking for a overall view of the writing process. Uses a lot of brainstorming exercises to help grasp the topics. And the structured layout of the novel helps grasp the main points easily. ( )

Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland is a non-fiction title that looks at the benefits and process of outlining a novel before you start writing.

The Cover: The cover is a great fit for this title. The image reflects the craft of writing and works well in the non-fiction genre.

The Good Stuff: This book covers the techniques of outlining well. The author shares her experience in a clear and concise manner. There is some great information in this book that would steer an author on a straight path with their writing.

The Bad Stuff: There are a lot of author interviews interspersed between chapters. At first, I found them interesting, but then they all became a bit boring. They all seemed to say the same thing, drumming home the message that outlining is good. It seemed like filler to me and I would have much preferred just one or two examples at the end of the book.

Overall, there is some great information in this book. If you want to learn about outlining, I would recommend you read this, it will certainly tell you what you need to know. If you already have a good grip on outlining, you probably won’t learn so much. If this is you, it may just confirm that what you are doing is the same as other authors, or maybe you’ll learn something new. I was going to give this 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks as I did learn a little and I enjoyed the book. On reflection, I think it holds a lot of value for beginner to intermediate writers and for that reason I’m ranking this one 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. ( )